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Big Court Victory for LGBT Families in Oregon

This week the Oregon Court of Appeals issued an important decision backing fairness for lesbian parents.

Under Oregon law, if a married opposite-sex couple has a baby via artificial insemination, the husband is automatically made the father, even if he has no biological relationship to the child.  But this ‘right of automatic parentage’ did not extend to same-sex couples.  So if a lesbian couple has a baby via artificial insemination, the partner of the mother can be left out of the family.

In Shineovich v. Kemp the court found this exclusion unconstitutional and extended the automatic parentage rights to committed same-sex couples.

The Court’s decision in the Shineovich case makes it crystal clear that fairness is a fundamental Oregon value.  Same-sex couples who take on the responsibility of raising a family deserve fair treatment under the law.

Basic Rights Oregon congratulates attorney Mark Johnson for his leadership in taking on and winning this case.  Mark is at the firm Johnson & Lechman-Su PC and is a member of the Basic Rights Oregon Legal Group.  Basic Rights Oregon and the ACLU of Oregon submitted an amicus brief in this case.

Looking forward, gay and lesbian couples still face fundamental challenges because they are excluded from marriage.  This case is just one piece of a larger puzzle.  By excluding same-sex couples from marriage, our state puts people at risk every day. Being locked out of the protections that come with marriage means real harm to real people.

We still have a ways to go to achieve this basic Oregon value of fairness for committed gay and lesbian couples.